The Federal Government has announced plans to phase out the policy separating Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) from Senior Secondary Schools (SSS), following findings that more than 20 million pupils fail to progress beyond the junior secondary level.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the decision on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
Alausa said the “disarticulation policy,” which requires junior and senior secondary schools to operate independently with separate principals and facilities, has failed to achieve its intended objectives and has instead worsened access to education.
“We have 20 million dropouts from primary school to JSS. Where are those students? We also found we have 80,000 public primary schools and only about 15,000 junior secondary schools. That’s a one-to-eight ratio,” the minister said.
According to him, the imbalance has resulted in overcrowded junior secondary schools while many senior secondary school facilities remain underutilised, particularly in states such as Kaduna and other parts of northern Nigeria.
“This disarticulation policy has failed. We will phase it out. We can’t be creating positions because we want to create a director level for people while we harm our education system. It’s about doing what is best for every Nigerian child,” Alausa stated.
He said the proposal to abolish the policy would be presented at the next meeting of the National Council on Education for consideration.
The minister explained that the planned reform is aimed at improving the transition of pupils through the education system, expanding access to secondary education and boosting learning outcomes.
Acknowledging the country’s longstanding challenges in retaining children in school, Alausa expressed confidence that the current administration would reverse the trend.
“This government will not fail. We are fixing it,” he declared.
At the event, the minister also inaugurated a ministerial committee chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye to oversee the implementation and monitoring of UBEC-funded Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools across the country.
The committee has been tasked with ensuring that completed projects are handed over to state governments and opened for teaching and learning without further delay.
Alausa lamented that despite substantial public investment by UBEC in hundreds of schools nationwide, many projects remain unfinished or have yet to admit learners, describing the situation as an unacceptable waste of public resources.
Nigeria continues to grapple with one of the world’s largest out-of-school children populations, with millions of school-age children, particularly in rural and conflict-affected communities, still lacking access to formal education.
Education stakeholders have repeatedly stressed that tackling the crisis requires not only building more schools but also ensuring completed facilities are fully operational, adequately staffed and accessible to learners.
